Conway breaks 125-yr-old record

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New Zealand opener Devon Conway smashed KS Ranjitsinhji's 125-year-old record for the greatest score by any batsman on debut in a Test match in England on Thursday, just a day after surpassing Sourav Ganguly's 25-year-old record as an overseas opener in England.

The left-hander, who at the time of writing this looked set for a maiden double ton, went past former England cricketers Ranjitsinhji and WG Grace. For 125 years, Ranjitsinhji held the record for the highest debut score in England. In Manchester in 1896, he scored an unbroken 154 against Australia. Grace had scored 150 on debut against Australia back in 1880 in Manchester.

Resuming the day at 136, Conway got to the 150-run mark in style and looked in trouble whatsoever in tackling James Anderson, Mark Wood and Stuart Broad.

The left-hander, might have impressed with his gutsy ton on Test debut, but the batsman has said the thought of scoring a hundred in his first match in the longest format never crossed his mind.

"That [scoring a century on debut] never came across my mind. Just getting a Test debut, a chance to play at this level, was all I thought about," he said.

"Very happy, grateful for the opportunity from Cricket Wellington and also the Black Caps as well. A pretty special feeling, and one I certainly didn't think about when I made that move," he added.